1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of safety ashtrays. In particular, it relates to a safety cigarette holder to prevent lit cigarettes from falling out of the ashtray. The invention also relates to a stackable ashtray.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A common hazard with conventional ashtrays which is the source of many house fires is the defect in common ashtray design whereby a lit cigarette is balanced on the circumference of the ashtray until the cigarette burns down to a certain point at which the unlit end of the cigarette extending outside the ashtray outweighs the lit end of the cigarette inside the ashtray. At this point the lit cigarette falls onto the floor or furniture. Similarly, the cigarette may simply fall out of the ashtray when the ashtray is jarred. The cigarette-receiving groves or channels in the ashtray may be so configured as to wedge the cigarette in place, however this deforms the cigarette which is undesirable for the smoker. Locating the cigarette holder in the interior of the ashtray may solve this problem, but results in an ashtray which is overly large and bulky and generally less convenient to use.
It is also known to be desirable to utilize stackable ashtrays which permit a number of ashtrays to be stored or carried as a unit. Such a stackable ashtray, which includes a centrally located cigarette holder and snuffing device for safety purposes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,334 entitled "Stackable Safety Ashtray", issued Oct. 15, 1974 to J. C. Fox and Elbert A. Delay. Such stacked ashtrays also permit a rapid replacement of a full ashtray with a clean ashtray without actually emptying the ashtray, and cause the smouldering butts in a full ashtray to be extinguished by stacking an empty mating ashtray on top of the full ashtray. In the Fox ashtray however, the stacked ashtrays are not secured one to the other and will separate if up-ended, causing a considerable mess. The lack of securing means also makes the stacking of more than a few ashtrays hazardous.